Current Fair Websites
Official Fair Site
Deep Fried Blog
flickr
YouTube
Fair History Online
- A written history of the North Carolina State Fair, from NCpedia. There are also several other articles which talk about agriculture, technology, and the NC Colored Industrial Association Fair.
- Green 'n' Growing: The History of Home Demonstration and 4-H Youth Development in North Carolina is an online collection that contains over 190 photographs of exhibits at the North Carolina State Fair between the 1920s and 1970s, primarily related to home demonstration and 4-H.
- You can view photos from the North Carolina State Fair (1910s - 1980s) at Historical State, North Carolina State University's online history collection.
- This 1860 letter from the then-President of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, David Swain, points to the State Fair as a source of "restlessness ... "unfavorable to the quiet and diligent performance of duty."
- Blog entries on the State Fair, from the Government and Heritage Library, part of the State Library of North Carolina.
- A Mini Page for the 1970 State Fair. Created by Betty Debnam, the Mini Page was a children's feature that appeared in newspapers. You can also see the pages for 1969, 1972, 1986.
- What is a premium list?
- What themes has the State fair used over time?
Fair History in Print
- Want even more Fair history? Check out Melton McLaurin's The North Carolina State Fair: The First 150 Years (2003). You can purchase a copy or check it out through a local library.
- Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Fun and Profit, 1988, Robert Bogdan
- Girl Show: Into the Canvas World of Bump and Grind, 1999, A. W. Stencell
- Red Pepper Fudge and Blue Ribbon Biscuits: Favorite Recipes and Stories from North Carolina State Fair Winners, 1995, Amy T. Rogers
- State Fair, 2006, Arthur Grace
Fair People
- The Sodfather: A Friend of Agriculture in North Carolina is an online exhibit about Jim Graham, longtime and beloved Commissioner of Agriculture who greatly expanded the State Fair.
- Papers of William Kerr Scott, who was Commissioner of Agriculture (1936-48), Governor of North Carolina (1949-53), and a NC Senator (1954-58). Scott helped create a Fair division within the NC Department of Agriculture. His papers are available at the North Carolina State Archives. (Call # PC.1175)
Fair Buildings
- Information about Matthew Nowicki, designer of Dorton Arena, from North Carolina State University Libraries' North Carolina Architects & Builders. You can also read about William Henley Deitrick, who completed Dorton Arena after Nowicki's death.
- A short article about Dorton Arena (pdf) from the North Carolina Museum of History.
- Papers of William Henley Deitrick, the architect whose firm completed Dorton Arena, are available at the North Carolina State Archives. (Call # PC.1487)
- The State Fairgrounds' Commercial and Education buildings are part of the National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service has a short writeup about the Commercial and Education Buildings and about Dorton Arena in "Raleigh: A Capital City."
